mason



. UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE.

A. C. MASON, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TO I-IIMSELF, H. H. MASON, AND` D. M. SMITH, OF SAMEV PLACE.

HOOK AND EYE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 32,031, dated April 9, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALvIN CHILDS MASON, of Springiield, in the county of lVindsor and State of Vermont, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hooks and Eyes,

such as are generally Used for Ladies and Childrens Garments; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description of the same, reference being' had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this speciication, in which- Figure l, is a back view of my invention; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the same; Fig. 3, a side view of the same; Fig. t, a face view of the same; Fig. 5, a small perspective view of a hook" provided with an ordinary snap or spring-guard.

Similar letters ot reference indicate corresponding parts inthe several igures.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of hooks and eyes, the hooks of which are provided with snaps or springguards to prevent the casual detachment or unfastening of the hooks and eyes.

The object of the within described invention is to facilitate the unhooking or detaching of the hooks from the eyes when necessary, and also to prevent the bending and injuring of the snap or spring-guard, a contingency consequent on the ditliculty and embarrassment'frequently attending the unhooking of the hooks provided with the usual snap or spring-guard.

The within described invention consists in having the end of the snap or spring-guard bent so as to extend obliquely into a loop or opening in the hoolgsubstantially as hereinafter shown and described, whereby the desired end is attained.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand, and construct my invention, I will proceed t-o describe it.

A, represents a hook which has its bent end or bill a, and opposite ends b, l), constructed in the ordinary way of a single piece of wire. There is this dilierence however between the ordinary hook without 'a snap, and the one herein represented, the having one of its legs 0 suiiiciently long -to admit of being bent and extend forward sufficiently far to pass behind the bill a, and

form a snap or spring guard, the snap c, having sufficient elasticity to form a spring which keeps the end of the snap against the bill a, see Figs. 2, and 3. The front end of the snap c, is bent back as shown at cl, and said end d, extends within a loop, or opening e, which is made in the hook at a point back of the bill a, as shown clearly in Figs. l, and 2. The end (Z, of the snap c, prevents the eye B, being casually detached or unhooked, and at the same time it admits of the hook and eye being readily disengaged as the end (Z, serves as a guide for the eye in passing out fromthe hook as the snap is bent back or depressed. The end d, also performs another function it prevents the snap c, being bent laterally as shown in Fig. 5, a contingency liable to occur by hastily attempting to disengage the hook and eye. This diiiiculty occurs with the usual snap or spring-guard which is not provided with the bent end d, the end of the snap c, simply bearing against the end of the bill a. There is also another ditliculty attending the ordinary snap or spring-guard, and that is, the eye in being' disengaged is liable to catch against the end of the snap, and also to pass underneath it if not completely depressedl by the operator, there being no guide d, as in my invention to assist the eye in passing out from the bill a.

The within described invention does not enhance in an appreciable degree the cost of the construction of the hooks. They are all made by machinery and very rapidly.

y I do not claim broadly snaps or springguards applied to the hooks of hooks and eyes, for they have been previously used,

but;

I do claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

The forming of the snaps or springguards c, with bent ends (l, which extend into opening's e, in the hooks at the back of the bills, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

ALVIN CHILDS MASON.

Witnesses:

SAML. W. PORTER, GEO. JOHNSON. 

